Hi al:

Here is my latest attempt, almost finished (after two evenings and an hour on the third evening) of knitting. It is loosely based on the Spicy Fitted Vneck T-shirt pattern in Fitten Knits by Stefanie Japel. (I say “loosely” because I found the pattern a tad incormprehensible, and decided as a result to get rid of the eyelet pattern – which was not showing up anyway with the Raj silk).

I trust it will look better than blocked (or when wearing it, for that matter). Sleeves (which I’m just doing cap) and neckline to go.

First for the good – my first attempt at knitting hemp!

Full t-shirt:

detail


Specs:
yarn: AllHemp6 by Hemp for Knitting
pattern: Hemp for Knitting raglan t-shirt
needles: 3.75 mm bamboo circular

This was a quick knit. I had washed the hemp before which I suspect made knitting with it more enjoyable. I took a run with drying it in the tumbledryer as I didn’t mind if it shrunk a bit. It did shrink a bit.

And now for the bad…

I was close to tears earlier in the week when doing the laundry… somehow in the (communal) dryer my favourite knitted blanket (and one of my first design efforts) got bleach marks all over it! I’m still trying to figure out how this happened – it was fine coming out of the washer and I do not use bleach with any of my knitwear (or with the chocolate brown towels I washed the blankie together with).

So – requiem to my blankie:

I was so distraught that I wanted to take the scissors to it immediately. DH talked me out of this… and for that I’m glad. However, it is very disheartening.

… but now on to the pretty!

My newest WIP is the Spicy Fitted Tee from Fitted Knits. I’m trying it with sari silk.

Yet more yarn… after I promised myself to engage in some stashbusting. But at 20% off I couldn’t resist!

Handmaiden Silken, 1 skein in Pewter, one skein in which I think is Peridot.

Designated for the River Rock scarf pattern by Sivia Harding in No Sheep for You. I must also credit Marianne on the No Sheep KAL for inspiring me to make this after seeing her beautiful version on line.

I should have held out for two skeins of pewter… but I think these will work well together if alternated (as suggested by the ever helpful Leani (sic) at my LYS… who knows how to sell yarn!)

Cheers,

Kristina

PS. Lest my new WIP feel neglected, I had better post some pics:

This is the Classic Short Sleeve Sweater (a raglan pattern) by Hemp for Knitting, using their AllHemp 6. Not nearly as luxurious as the Silken, but quite nice (I washed the yarn before knitting).

I guess the preserves interlude inspired me to…well, wrap up this T-shirt and acknolwedge that I didn’t like the yarn all that much to work with and so wasn’t going to stick out out for the full length.

The yarn was a novelty yarn, Ranee by Kertzer – I got it for $1 a skein so no harm, no foul. The pattern was adapted from a tunic pattern in the Knit.1 summer edition 2007. I liked the tunic but should have figured that this yarn (which is heavily patterned) would not show it off.

Oh well! Have cast on for another t-shirt using hemp. So far, so good!

Just came across this little tank top I made a couple of summers back – one of my first non-sweater efforts if you can believe it!

The pattern was from one of the Debbie Stoller SnB books – I can’t remember which one. I think it was called the Mud Flap Girl Tank. Yarn used was Cotton Fleece from the stash (I didn’t have enough of the turquoise for the whole top, as you can probably tell by the rather lame stipe pattern on the back).

… or Delia Smith, rather. I got How to Cook vol 3 from the library and as a result decided to make… preserves! (Shoot me now… I haven’t got a canning machine. But anyway).

So, off I trotted to Loblaws to buy a bunch of vegetables (and I don’t even LIKE vegetables!). Ah, the power of photographs.

I have already put up the following: preserved citrus fruit (I’ve done this before, and it’s not a Delia recipe… at least not one that I’ve seen). It is a bit new for me – a spin on Moroccan preserved lemons. I added orange and lime as well.

Aren’t they lovely! I’ll have to wait about 2 weeks before digging in, though.

I’ve also started the prep work for Delia’s dill cucumber pickles and for an italian veggie mix.

I have not forgotten about knitting, although I’ve taken a wee hiatus during this week. I hope to have my next FO done tomorrow or Monday – a tunic or dress, depending on how long the yarn holds out. I got a bunch of Kertzer Ranee on sale.

Also, I did pop into the LYS today. I’m going to be making the Safari with one of these lovely yarns: Svale by Danegarn (50% cotton, 40% viscose, 10% silk)

or Eden Madil (100% bamboo):

Brown? you say, scratching your head? I know, I know… but this one is not for me. (I’m amazed at myself that I’m doing two projects for other people… am I getting less selfish as I grow older? Hmm. I doubt it). The person for whom it’s intended probably would prefer the brown. I would prefer the blue. They are both lovely yarns so I don’t know yet which one I will pick.

Also coming up: a hemp tank and a sari silk t-shirt.

That is, if I don’t decide to can the entire produce section at Loblaws first… !

So many projects, so little time. 😉

…because I’ve just finished the He Gansey for DH! (pattern by Jeannine Sims in the No Sheep for You book)

Detail:

Front:

Back:

The grey grew on me. Too bad I couldn’t wait for a sunny day to photograph it, though! 😉

Specs:

Needles: 5mm Addi Turbo (body) and 5 mm Takumi bamboo (sleeves and neck)
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton – Misty colour (15 skeins)
Size: 45″ approx chest
Time spent: 12 hours total for each sleeve and the neck. Didn’t keep track of the rest

Notes:

As this pattern was knitted in the round, I loved it – no seaming! It was much quicker to work than I would have thought which was also nice.

I did make some changes to the pattern:

– sleeve pattern was originally all in double moss. I decided to put the tree and line pattern from the front yoke on the sleeves instead, with seed stitch beside… and finish the sleeve under the elbow in stockinette. Official reason: this is more in the style of a traditional gansey. Real reason: I’m lazy and just wanted to do as much stockinette stitch as possible! 😉

– I also changed the neckline from rib and rollneck to 2/2 rib, based on DH’s preference

– the sleeves are about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the pattern calls for, again due to DH’s preference.

The Rowan cotton was also great to work for. I’m not sure how well the photos show it, but it produced great stitch definition and is also nice and light.

The rest of the pattern ended up fitting DH very well (I had him try it on while working on the first sleeve).

Now – I’m just hoping that the weather will be warm enough so that he can’t actually wear it until October! Having said that, it is a cool day today here… SIGH.

Next up… I’m not sure yet. I bought some Kerzner Ranee on sale ($1/skein) and may whip up a tunic.

… to the proud Canadian she sees in her mirror every day! I managed to complete two tank tops today!

1. Lorelei

Front:

Back:

Specs:

Yarn: Cotton Fleece Berry (2 skeins) and New Age Teal (1 skein)
+ Lang Mille Colori 1 50g skein
Needles: 4 mm Addis and 4 mm bamboo crochet hook
Pattern: Lisa Shobhana Mason in her book “Yarnplay”
Time spent: 6 days approx.

This was great to knit and I really like the finished outcome. It did turn out a bit less formfitting than I wanted… but no huge problem. I stuck to the pattern closely this time… but did a slightly different design on the front and the back, which is why you all get treated to a shot of my butt (just in case you were wondering!) 😉

2. “TTC Tank”

All but the shaped part at the top was knitted during my commute to work (1/2 hour approx)… my first subway knitting project, but not my last! (however, I guess I’ll have to find a simple scarf pattern..). This one, like the Lorelei, had the benefit of being a stashbuster… this one was knitted almost all in the round and the only seaming was the shouders (for which I did a 3-needle bind off instead…)

Yarn: Lana Grossa Elastico (cotton/polyamide)
Needles: 3.25 mm and 3.75 mm takumi bamboo + 3.5 mm crochet hook
Pattern: “4×4 rib tank” by Cabin Fever.

Cheers!

Kristina

PS. the toxic looking cooler in my hand? One word of advice… DON’T SPILL IT. It actually has stained my countertop. SIGH. None of which, of course, stops me from drinking it…

I decided to start creating my own fireworks today… with this wildly coloured Cascade fixation yarn!

Here is my completed Lorelei… not blocked yet, but wanted to post anyway!

Specs in today’s second post (together with pictures of me, perhaps a reason to avoid it… and gaudy looking vodka cooler!)

And this is the new work in progress:

And… these will be future works in progress…

To the left is allhemp 6 by Hemp for Knitting, to the right Sari silk. Thanks to those on the Knitty message Board who suggested washing these. I notice a bit improvement with the hemp in particular… the Sari silk not so much but it still did soften a bit. The hemp is my latest acquisition… and although the red linen in my stash drawer is no doubt feeling very jealous and neglected I will probably be using that one next.

As for the He Gansey… back on the shelp (just for a short while).

Oh, by the way… Happy Canada/Dominion Day!!!

This is the new “TTC tank” I am working on – by Shobhana Mason in her book Yarnplay. However, I’m so happy with the pattern that I am cheating and working on it off the subway as well – started on Monday this past week.

Here’s a couple of shots of how I hope Lorelei looks when she grows up…

Betty’s
Claire – 28 April post

The photography skills of both Betty and Claire are clearly far superior to mine as well!!

And here’s my work in progress – bottom almost done:

I’m using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece for most of it.

… and where is the He Gansey, you might ask? Still in progress. Only the sleeves left to go. Will get back to it today… really, I will!

I went yesterday to the LYS and bought some Hemp for Knitting (allhemp 6) in periwinkle and pumpkin. End goal – yet another T-shirt! (a girl can’t have too many… apparently).